River Meets the King of Darkness
by Eric Northman's Angel
Summary: What if River was Furyan as well? What if Riddick and River were a mated pair from birth? Riddick has searched his whole life for River, and when he finds her, he will find that it's only the beginning. He will discover his past, learn his present and fight to protect his future with his mate River Tam. What will happen when River's past resurfaces? Beware major Simon Hate!


**River Meets the King of Darkness**

A/N: Please bear with me, as this is my first Pitch Black/CoR/Firefly Crossover, my first Crossover ever, really! A few things that are changed are that the blond Furyan, the Purifier in CoR, which I will come up with a name for later, doesn't die; Vaako supports Riddick when he becomes King, and the ages of River and Riddick change. Also, Riddick's eyes are natural, were like in the movie since birth. River's shine when she is very upset, or when she needs them for a purpose, as part of her mutation. Otherwise they stay brown.

Jack survived, they were able to save her after she got stabbed by the statue. You will not see very many of the original crew from Firefly/Serenity on here, as Simon is not the one to save River from the Academy, he really didn't care. Riddick may end up doing some butt kicking with some of the crew; i.e. Simon, as I hated the way he treated River, like a medical experiment gone wrong, that he suddenly want to take apart and try to fix.

River and Riddick are the same age, as they were born on the same day. I'm tweaking the timeline a little and making it so that Riddick is about 22 as is River, with all knowledge on how to kill is bred into their bones as they get older, making them very dangerous, being born Furyan. This is after CoR, and before the Firefly series. She has been in the Academy since she was 4 years old like, been in for 18 years, so she has had more adjustments done to her, she has more control, and will not be insane, because she managed to make herself better while in captivity. She is sharing dreams and experiences with someone. Who? You will soon find out.

Thank you RayRay1 for your story The Little Queen of Darkness, for the inspiration of this story; I read it, and this story popped into my brain. Thank you also Shenandoah76209 for your story Invictus in Black as it gave me the idea to write a River/Riddick story in the first place. Love it, please start the next part?

Please Read and Review? I'm also searching for a Beta, please PM me if you are interested.

Chapter 1-The Beginning

Some 23 years ago, when the prediction was made by the Elemental Aereon about Riddick of Furyia, there was also a girl-child born. Aereon made another prediction that said that she would face great hardships, but that she would be equal to him, and she would help him defeat an evil even worse than the Necromongers.

Unknown to Gabriel and Regan Tam, they were also of pure bred Furyan decent, though of different, extremely powerful bloodlines, and would have been so ashamed of it, raised as they were by their families. For this reason, the Academy wanted River Tam, their only daughter and youngest child and they willingly gave them their strange 4 year old child, embarrassed by her knowledge of things she should not know.

Simon's Furyan genes were recessed, giving him none of the gifts Furyan or otherwise, and he was jealous of River because of it, so he picked on her until she left for the Academy. River was special because of a genetic mutation, able to read minds, was telekinetic, had enhanced senses, was an expert with all weapons, a genius and could predict the future. She knew what she was when she was old enough to understand she was different, when her genetic memory was released at 9 years old. After that she was aware of an odd itching under her skin, like fur. A few days later, while searching her mind, she discovered what looked like a baby Puma purring at her and she realized what happened, and hid her precious animal side from the Academy Doctors, unwilling to chance that they would find her and kill her, leaving River alone again.

Richard B. Riddick on the other hand, had no advantages, and was completely unaware of what he was until his teens. He was found in a trash can with his cord around his neck. He'd been in the trash can for at least a few hours, when a woman heard the crying, found him and picked him up, and took him to an orphanage, where he was treated badly, and that helped make him into the man who would kill the Lord Marshall. It was Aereon who took him to that orphanage, mad at herself for subjecting an innocent child to that, but it was needed. He was needed.

He'd also felt the odd itching under his skin, but his animal was a fiercely enraged baby Tiger, snapping at anyone who tried to hurt Richard after he was released. He could feel his animal calling someone, but was unaware of whom it could be.

Richard's POV

The dreams started when I was about 9 years old, about a girl my age strapped to a metal table, with needles everywhere throughout her tiny body, pumping in body enhancers, stimulants and brain enhancing drugs. She was pretty I suppose, with long chocolate brown tresses and big brown eyes, but she was so afraid, and I could feel her pain from where I was at least a few worlds away. I knew where she was, but I couldn't help her yet. My tiger snarled in anger that this girl-child was treated like a doll, to be dressed up and used. She seemed so innocent, and they were hurting her. I promised myself when I was strong enough, I would find her and help her. My tiger had purred at the idea, as did my human side. I didn't know what it meant at the time; all I knew is that I needed to help her. My Tiger went to her Puma and wrapped himself around her, trying to keep her safe, hidden from the Doctors. I softly whispered to her, '_Hold on baby girl, I'm coming. I will find you, just hold on. ' _

She always seemed to calm down after I helped her that first time, when we connected. Doctors never could figure out why she no longer screamed so loud when they did enhancements to her. '_Richard, please hurry. I fear it'll only get worse, the longer I am here.' _Then I feltthemhurting her again and I snarled in anger.

When I hit my 15th birthday, I left the orphanage, finally strong enough to help her, and the Alliance goons somehow got wind I was coming for her. They found me, and threw me into my first slam. One of the nastiest slams in the system, and it took me 18 months to escape. Somehow they found out about our connection and severed it while I was at Butcherbay, so I could no longer tell where she was. My Tiger snarled, enraged that they would separate us from our mate. By the time I got back to Ariel, she was gone, moved to another facility, on another planet, so I did the next best thing. I got help from a doctor.

I found one of her doctors, and took her with me when I left her house. How can someone, especially a woman, do what she did to an innocent child, and sleep at night? I sat her down on an uncomfortable chair, and tied her down, pulling a nasty shiv from underneath my shirt, and smacked her Doctor awake.

"About time you're awake, Doc," I said when she started to twitch, crossing my muscled arms over my chest, shiv newly sharpened and tapping against my upper arm and leaned against a wall across from her. "Where is she?"

"Where is who?" The Doctor played innocent, and said "I'm a pediatrician. I have no idea what you mean."

"Where's River Tam?" The Doctor's head snapped towards me, her jaw dropping in shock. "Yes, I know who she is and what you did to her. She's my mate, where is she?" I snarled my Tiger close to the surface and the Doctor cringed in fear.

"You're just like her. You will not be able to handle her, not after what the Academy did to her." In her shock and curiosity, she dropped her act and told me what I needed to know, and smiled smugly.

"Yes, I am. Now, where is she? You think I won't use this knife on you? You are so wrong. You take my mate at 4 years old, experiment on her, turn her into a killing machine, and yes I know exactly what you did to her. Why do you think she stopped screaming eventually? I was there while you were mistreating her! "

"You bonded with her? That's why she was calling your name so much in her dreams. That's why we had to break the connection?" The doctor mused aloud, seeming to forget I was there. I didn't care as long as I found River again. "So, you are Furyan as well, then. I thought you were all wiped out years ago. I thought River was the last one."

"Yeah, we're both Furyan, she's part of the ruling class, one of the Royal Lines in fact. You tortured and experimented on the Furyan High Princess! For that alone, any of us still around would declare war, and if I find any more Furyan alive, we will and we would win!" I snarled in anger, causing her to pale, whether from my snarling or the large bomb I just dropped on her. "Furyan children are born in mated pairs. First the male half of the mated pair is born to one set of parents, and at the latest the female half is born is the next day to the other set of parents. River and I were born within seconds of each other, which makes our mated bond the strongest ever! If half a mated pair dies, the other half does as well, we are that connected."

"She's from one of the Royal Families? No wonder her genes and gifts are so strong. Damn, we are all so dead!" The Doctor squeaked, looking like she was going to pass out. "Which family are you from then? You have to be pretty high up, for her to be your mate. Good thing, we never had you killed then Richard, we would've lost her."

"Yeah, that's her family. Me, the same, different Royal Family though, chosen mate to River Tam."

I pull my shiv and hold it to the doctor's throat and say, "Now where is she? Tell me, and I'll make your death painless. Don't tell me, and you won't like what I do to you!"

"I don't know what they did with her. They send her on missions, she comes back. They don't talk to her. If they did, they get killed; well everyone but the Doctors and the Debriefing Agents." She carefully avoided saying we, thinking that it might save her life, I take a breath, and I can smell her lies and it causes me to snarl in anger.

"Yeah, the blue handed guys. Love to have a meeting with those fuckers, after what they did to River."

"Come on Furyan, they would kill you." She rolls her eyes in annoyance, hoping to stay alive.

"They could try, they wouldn't succeed. By the way, I know you are still working for Blue Sun. Are they paying you good money to cut into the brains of little children and torture them?"

"We did not know your race was still around. When we found out that there was a Furyan still alive we wanted to know what she could do, how much pain she could handle. It was curiosity, more than anything. I wanted to know what makes a Furyan tick."

"It seems to me, that she handled a lot of pain from you pieces of shit! She was a child, and now she is no older then my age of 18. Where is she!" I take my shiv and put it against her leg, pressing firmly enough to draw blood, trying to get her to tell me the truth. Suddenly I pull off my goggles and she jerks back and freaks out. My tiger is showing through my eyes, sees prey and it's scaring her. "Seems to me, you found out what makes her and me both tick. We feel each other's emotions as if they are our own. Now where is she?"

"I don't know. I don't have the clearance for that information."

"You're lying Doc. I know you are. You are director of her base, this I know for a fact. Now tell me!" I demand, slicing my shiv up her leg, towards her hip, cutting through skin and tearing muscle.

She screams in pain, and whimpers.

"My River took more pain than this from you and your team of psychotic doctors. This I know for a fucking fact! Grow a set and tell me the truth! You should've taken her parents. They are both pure too, so is Simon, yet you took a child, practically a baby, and hurt her."

"How do you… Oh, right, the bond. You saw everything huh? Wow! We needed a young specimen for the objective to work. Simon is recessed; he has none of your or her talents. He is Furyan, only in ancestry. " She was a doctor right to the end, trying to analyze how River and I work.

"If you don't know where she is, tell me the names of the doctor on your team, and I will let you go."

She tells me to look in her desk for a hidden compartment, so I pull my shiv from her leg, put it in my belt and go to the desk and after finding it, I find a thick book of names, dates, what all the money is used for, everything. I look at her and she nods to tell me everything is in there.

"Thanks Doc. You just made my search that much easier." I draw my shiv, and throw it into her heart, killing her instantly. "At least you got a fast death, your team of doctors? Not so much!" Then going up to her, I take my shiv back, wipe the blade on her skirt and put it away, taking the book with me.

I call out with my mind _'hold on, River baby, I'm coming', _but I hear nothing in return and in scares me. I know she's alive but I'm still worried about her. I feel a small fluttering, like I felt years ago when we started talking, and I know she's trying to reach me. Whatever they did, must not be permanent.


End file.
